Bangladesh-Bhutan summit

Talks capped with five accords

News Desk
A bilateral summit meet between Bangladesh and
Bhutan Saturday yielded five accords on cooperation
in water transit, health, agriculture, tourism, and
public- administration training for mutual advances
in these areas.
Apart from waterway transportation between the two
South Asian countries, there has been a
multilateral-cooperation agendum for road and rail
connectivity in the region linking Bangladesh,
Bhutan, India and Nepal which has yet to be
operational because of delays in ratifying the deal
by Thimphu.
The five instruments were signed capping official
talks between Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina and Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering
at the PMO in Dhaka. The two prime ministers
witnessed the accord-signing ceremony.
Both sides hope these instruments would enhance
cooperation in cargo transportation, health
services, agriculture, tourism and interaction
between the Public Administration Training Centres
of the two countries for exchange of faculty members
as well as training and capacity building.
Shipping Secretary Md Abdus Samad and secretary of
the Ministry of Economic Affairs Dasho Yeshi Wangdi
inked the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for
operationalisation of an MoU on the use of inland
waterways for transportation of bilateral trade and
transit cargos.
The MoU between the Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare of Bangladesh and the Ministry of Health of
the Royal Government of Bhutan was signed by Health
Division Services Secretary Md Ashadul Islam and his
Bhutanese counterpart Dr Ugen Dophu.
A third MoU between Bangladesh Agricultural
Research Council (BARC) and the Department of
Agriculture of the Ministry of Agriculture and
Forests of Bhutan was initialed by Executive
Chairman of BARC Dr Md Kabir Ikramul Haque and
Bhutanese Ambassador Sonam Tobden Rabgye.
Rector of Bangladesh Public Administration
Training Center and Bhutanese Ambassador Sonam
Tobden Rabgye signed the MoU between BPATC and Royal
Institute for Management (RIM).
And the fifth one was signed by Bangladesh
Parjatan Corporation Chairman Akhtaruz Zaman Khan
Kabir and Bhutanese Ambassador Sonam Tobden Rabgye
for cooperation between Bangladesh Parjatan
Corporation and the Tourism Council of Bhutan for
promoting tourism.
Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque later told the
press that Bangladesh and Bhutan agreed in principle
to work out ways of duty-and quota-free access of a
number of their products to each other's market for
mutual interests.
"Bhutan has sought duty and quota free access of its
16 products to Bangladesh market, while Bangladesh
has sought such access of its 10 goods to Bhutanese
market during the official talks of the two
countries held today," the Foreign Secretary said
while briefing reporters after the talks at the
Prime Minister's Office.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina led the Bangladesh side
at the talks, while the Bhutanese delegation was led
by visiting Bhutanese Premier Dr Lotay Tshering.
According to the foreign secretary, the premier told
her Bhutanese counterpart that Dhaka would consider
the matter of duty-and quota-free access of 16
Bhutanese products to Bangladesh market.
"A positive discussion was held at today's talks and
it's hoped that it will be done as the issue is in
the discussion for a long time," Haque said.
The issue, he said, was also discussed when the
prime minister had visited Bhutan.
The foreign secretary noted that the prime minister
also said discussion on duty-free-and quota-free
access of 10 Bangladeshi products would take place
soon. "We assume that both sides agreed in principle
and now it has to be worked out at the technical
level," he said.
Haque said issues related to trade, business,
connectivity and health figured high in the talks.
About the field of transit, he said, there is a big
initiative called Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal
(BBIN) initiative for road and rail connectivity in
the region.
The foreign secretary said though all countries
signed the agreement, it is yet to be ratified by
Bhutan's parliament. "The new Bhutan government said
the bill regarding the initiative will be placed
afresh at its Upper Senate for discussion and they
are very much hopeful of passage of the bill," he
said.
The connectivity of the four countries will be
strengthened further if the bill is passed by the
Bhutanese parliament, he said.
Haque described Bangladesh ties with Bhutan as "deep
and historic" as Thimphu was the first foreign
capital to recognize Bangladesh in 1971.
"This relationship is deeper than any other
relations and our ties have improved to a great
extent over the years . . . the relations are being
deepened and widened gradually," he told the
journalists.
Haque said the trade figures between the two
countries increased after the visit of Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina to Bhutan in 2017, and since
then, the people-to-people contact in the field of
tourism has been boosted as well.
He said the relations between the two countries are
not only being deepened, the areas in different
sectors like trade, commerce and tourism are also
being widened.
The foreign secretary said the two sides discussed
the regional electricity trade as talks were already
underway to produce hydropower in Bhutan and
marketing that electricity in the region while
Bangladesh was keen to invest in hydroelectricity in
Bhutan.
"The discussion is at the advanced stage and we hope
an agreement to this end will be inked soon."
The foreign secretary said a tripartite cooperation
would be there when Bhutan-produced hydroelectricity
would be marketed in India and Bangladesh.
He said Bhutan also showed interest in hiring
Bangladeshi specialist doctors to cater their
medical-sector needs.
Sheikh Hasina said she would personally look into
the matter as cooperation between the two countries
in the field of health sector was gradually
increasing with increased quota for Bhutanese
students to 15 from 10 in Bangladesh medical and
nursing colleges.
Haque said the Bhutanese prime minister highly
appreciated Bangladesh's pharmaceutical industry.
The Bhutanese prime minister, he said, also highly
praised the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina.
Lotay, himself a doctor, simultaneously appreciated
Bangladesh premier's daughter Saima Wazed Hossain's
huge contributions to addressing the issue of
autism.
PM's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim was present at
the briefing.
On his arrival at the Prime Minister Office at
10am, Sheikh Hasina received the Bhutanese Prime
Minister at the Tiger Gate and then both leaders
moved to the meeting room.
The two leaders sat for tete-a-tete and then began
the bilateral meeting.
The Bhutanese Prime Minister arrived in Dhaka on
Friday morning for a four-day official visit at the
invitation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
(Inputs taken from agencies, media reports)